New Zealand women's national rugby union team

Not to be confused with New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team, New Zealand women's national rugby league team, or New Zealand national rugby union team.

New Zealand

Nickname(s)	Black Ferns
Union	New Zealand Rugby
Head coach	Wayne Smith
Captain	Ruahei Demant
Most caps	Kendra Cocksedge (60)
Top scorer	Kendra Cocksedge (355)
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	2 (as of 11 July 2022)
Highest	1 (2003-2012, 2013-2020)
Lowest	2 (2012, 2020)
First international
New Zealand 56 – 0 Netherlands (Christchurch, New Zealand; 26 August 1990)
Biggest win
New Zealand 134 – 6 Germany (Amsterdam, Netherlands; 2 May 1998)
Biggest defeat
England 56 – 15 New Zealand (Northampton, England; 7 November 2021)
World Cup
Appearances	7 (First in 1991)
Best result	Champions 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017

Women's World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 15 August 2022
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		England	096.78
2		New Zealand	089.57
3		France	087.91
4		Canada	087.17
5		United States	077.64
6		Italy	076.69
7		Ireland	076.33
8		Australia	075.68
9		Wales	072.53
10	1	Scotland	071.93
11	1	Spain	069.96
12	1	South Africa	067.01
13	1	Japan	066.01
14		Russia	061.10
15		Kazakhstan	058.45
16		Netherlands	058.27
17		Samoa	058.01
18		Hong Kong	057.89
19		Sweden	057.73
20		Germany	054.72
*Change from the previous week

The New Zealand national women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns, represents New Zealand in women's rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won five of the past six Women's Rugby World Cups.

They have an 83.96% winning record in test match rugby, and are the only women's international side with a winning record against every opponent. Since their proper international debut in 1991, the Black Ferns have lost to only four of the 16 nations they have played in test matches. They have never been ranked lower than second in the World Rankings since its introduction in 2003. The team performs a haka before every match; this is a Māori challenge or posture dance. Traditionally the Black Ferns use the haka Ko Uhia Mai until the present year.

Team's name

The team's nickname combines the colour black and the silver fern, which are iconic New Zealand sporting symbols. For example, the All Blacks is New Zealand's famous men's rugby team, the Black Caps is the men's cricket team, the White Ferns is the women's cricket team, while the Silver Ferns is the national women's netball team.

History

Starting with the inaugural International Rugby Board (IRB)-sponsored Cup in 1998, the Black Ferns won four consecutive World Cups, including the 2002 World Cup in Barcelona, the 2006 World Cup in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and the 2010 World Cup in London, England. Most recently, the Black Ferns have won their 5th World Cup, beating the English team in Belfast on 27 August 2017.

The Black Ferns have participated in most WRWC events since its inauguration in 1991, only missing the 1994 championship in Scotland. They also won the Canada Cup in 1996, 2000, and 2005, and the Churchill Cup in 2004.

Farah Palmer was captain of the Ferns from 1997 to 2005, when she lost her captaincy due to a shoulder injury. That year, she was honoured as International Women's (Rugby) Personality of the Year at the IRB Awards. For the 5th Women's Rugby World Cup in Canada, Palmer fought her way back into the team and again led the it to World Cup victory. After the win, Palmer announced her retirement from the Black Ferns in September 2006.

From 2002 until their last game of 2009, the Black Ferns enjoyed a streak of 24 consecutive test match wins spanning almost 9 years.

While rugby is the most popular spectator game in New Zealand, the Black Ferns have suffered in the past from similar problems to any women's sport: under-funding, lack of support and lack of publicity. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) and IRB have been criticised for not doing more to promote women's rugby, although support is beginning to improve in those organisations, in large part due to the Ferns' successes. The NZRU started funding the Black Ferns in 1995, thus giving a great boost to their game. Accordingly, the Black Ferns have benefitted from being included in NZRU High Performance initiatives. Along with professional coaches the team has had access to professional development resources such as analysis. In more recent times, the team's profile has risen greatly at a grassroots level, due in great part to their string of successes, and it is increasingly seen to be a national team on the same basis as any other.

In January 2010, the Women's Provincial Championship (WPC) came under severe threat after the NZRU announced that the championship series would have to go due to budget cuts. As the championship was a prime builder of training, skill and competition for New Zealand women's rugby, the decision was a shock for players and supporters, including former captain Farah Palmer (especially since it was a World Cup year). NZRU said women's domestic rugby was one of many victims of the tight financial times. They faced a barrage of criticism for their decision, and eventually reinstated the WPC after the Black Ferns won the 2010 World Cup.

The WPC was renamed the Farah Palmer Cup in 2016, in honour of the influential former captain.

In 2018, after the success of New Zealand women's national rugby sevens team, all Sevens and Black Ferns players have been offered semi-professional contracts. They also played the first Test series against Australian Walleroos, which was played on the same night as the Men's Bledisloe Cup Tests.

The 2018 season finished with a 1–1 drawn series against France, with France becoming only the fourth team in the world to beat the Black Ferns. The Black Ferns' loss in the final game of the year ended a 17-month long winning streak and was also the final game for captain Fa’amausili, who retired from international rugby.

In 2019, the Black Ferns won the annual Women's Rugby Super Series for the second time.

New Zealand will host the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup after beating out neighbour Australia for the rights. New Zealand automatically qualified for the 2021 event as host.

On 31 October 2021, the Black Ferns played their 100th test match against England at Exeter.

The Black Ferns hosted the 2022 Pacific Four Series; they won their first title after going undefeated in the series.

Haka

Main article: Haka in sports

The Black Ferns perform a haka (a Māori challenge) before every international match. Until the present year, the Black Ferns performed the haka Ko Uhia Mai, specially composed by the respected Māori rugby leader, Te Whetū Tipiwai.

Record

The first four games listed below – played at RugbyFest 1990 – are not generally accepted as being internationals by New Zealand authorities. However, in men's rugby it is general practice to award full international status to any games where ONE side considers a game to be an international. As a result all games in that tournament have been treated as full internationals in this article.

Overall

See also: List of New Zealand women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only; updated 19 June 2022)

Rugby: New Zealand internationals from 1991

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Australia	20	20	0	0	100%	734	139	+595
Canada	16	16	0	0	100%	647	133	+514
England	29	18	10	1	62.7%	645	459	+203
France	9	5	4	0	55.5%	281	139	+162
Germany	2	2	0	0	100%	251	6	+245
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	100%	121	0	+121
Ireland	2	1	1	0	50%	52	25	+27
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	100%	79	5	+74
Samoa	2	2	0	0	100%	140	12	+128
Scotland	3	3	0	0	100%	127	9	+118
South Africa	1	1	0	0	100%	55	3	+52
Spain	1	1	0	0	100%	46	3	+43
United States	13	12	1	0	92.3%	606	78	+528
Wales	4	4	0	0	100%	172	33	+139
World XV	2	2	0	0	100%	75	19	+65
Summary	106	89	16	1	83.96%	4031	1063	+3014

Rugby World Cup

Main article: Rugby World Cup (women's)

Rugby World Cup
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad
1991	Third place	3	2	0	1	48	21	Squad
1994	Did not participate due to late tournament cancellation
1998	Champions	5	5	0	0	344	32	Squad
2002	Champions	4	4	0	0	202	12	Squad
2006	Champions	5	5	0	0	202	34	Squad
2010	Champions	5	5	0	0	186	33	Squad
2014	Fifth place	5	4	0	1	245	37	Squad
2017	Champions	5	5	0	0	299	61	Squad
2021
Total	Champions	32	30	0	2	1526	230
Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

New Zealand have won the World Cup five times. They defeated the United States in the final of the 1998 World Cup held in the Netherlands to claim their maiden title. They followed this up with three more consecutive titles, overcoming England in the final of the next three editions; 2002, 2006 and 2010, as well as in their fifth world title in 2017. They lost to eventual winners the United States in the semi-final of the inaugural competition held in Wales in 1991, but were absent from the following tournament in 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup, due to the late cancellation of the event. In 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup, they lost a pool game to Ireland, while the top two teams in another pool drew their match. This saw them miss out on the semi-finals by a single table point, before going on to heavily defeat Wales and the United States to finish the tournament in fifth.

Players

Current squad

33-player squad for Laurie O'Reilly Cup.

Player	Position	Age	Super Club	Province	Caps
Luka Connor	Hooker	25	Chiefs	Bay of Plenty	6
Natalie Delamere	Hooker	25	Matatū	Bay of Plenty	1
Georgia Ponsonby	Hooker	22	Matatū	Canterbury	5
Tanya Kalounivale	Prop	23	Chiefs	Waikato	2
Pip Love	Prop	32	Matatū	Canterbury	17
Krystal Murray	Prop	29	Blues	Northland	3
Amy Rule	Prop	22	Matatū	Canterbury	5
Awhina Tangen-Wainohu	Prop	24	Chiefs	Waikato	new cap
Santo Taumata	Prop	19	Chiefs	Bay of Plenty	new cap
Chelsea Bremner	Lock	27	Matatū	Canterbury	3
Joanah Ngan-Woo	Lock	26	Hurricanes	Wellington	8
Maiakawanakaulani Roos	Lock	21	Blues	Auckland	6
Alana Bremner	Loose Forward	25	Matatū	Canterbury	6
Tafito Lafaele	Loose Forward	21	Blues	Auckland	2
Charmaine McMenamin	Loose Forward	32	Blues	Auckland	25
Kaipo Olsen-Baker	Loose Forward	19	Hurricanes	Manawatu	2
Kendra Reynolds	Loose Forward	29	Matatū	Bay of Plenty	3
Kennedy Simon	Loose Forward	25	Chiefs	Waikato	8
Ariana Bayler	Halfback	25	Chiefs	Waikato	4
Kendra Cocksedge	Halfback	34	Matatū	Canterbury	60
Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu	Halfback	30	Chiefs	Counties Manukau	8
Sylvia Brunt	Inside Back	18	–	Auckland	2
Ruahei Demant	Inside Back	27	Blues	Auckland	15
Amy du Plessis	Inside Back	23	Matatū	Canterbury	2
Theresa Fitzpatrick	Inside Back	27	Blues	Auckland	11
Chelsea Semple	Inside Back	29	Chiefs	Waikato	28
Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali	Inside Back	30	–	Otago	19
Hazel Tubic	Inside Back	31	Chiefs	Counties Manukau	14
Renee Holmes	Outside Back	22	Matatū	Waikato	3
Ayesha Leti-I'iga	Outside Back	23	Hurricanes	Wellington	15
Tyla Nathan-Wong	Outside Back	28	Blues	Northland	new cap
Grace Steinmetz	Outside Back	24	Matatū	Canterbury	0
Ruby Tui	Outside Back	30	Chiefs	Counties Manukau	2

Notable players

Main article: List of New Zealand women's national rugby union players

Three former Black Ferns have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame: Farah Palmer, Anna Richards and Huriana Manuel-Carpenter.

Farah Palmer won three Women's Rugby World Cups, in 1998, 2002 and 2006. During her captaincy from 1997 to 2006, the Black Ferns have lost only once. Palmer made her international debut against Australia in August 1996. She has earned 35 caps, making her the fifth-most capped Black Ferns player. Palmer was awarded the IRB International Women's Personality of the Year in 2005. The national provincial women's competition in New Zealand is named in her honour in recognition of her contribution to the game. She was inducted into World Rugby's Hall of Fame in October 2014.

Anna Richards was inducted into World Rugby's Hall of Fame in October 2014 along with Farah Palmer. She has won 49 caps for the Black Ferns in a career that has spanned two decades, from 1990 to 2010. She played in the inaugural 1991 World Cup when New Zealand lost in the semi-finals. Richards is also a four-time Women's Rugby World Cup winner – 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010, she played in every final.

Huriana Manuel-Carpenter represented New Zealand in both sevens and 15s. In 2013, she captained the Black Ferns sevens side when they won the inaugural Women's Sevens Series title and the Sevens World Cup. She was also captain when the side successfully defended the series title in 2014. She won a silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games. Manuel-Carpenter is also a two-time Rugby World Cup winner – 2006 and 2010. Between 2005 and 2014 she scored 15 tries from 25 test appearances. She is part of the first mother and daughter duo to have played for the Black Ferns. She was inducted into World Rugby's Hall of Fame in October 2021.

Coaches

All head coaches of the Black Ferns (1990–Present). Every Black Fern coach has been a New Zealander.

Name	Years	Tests	Won	Lost	Drew	Win %
Laurie O'Reilly	1989–1993	7	6	1	0	85.71%
Vicky Dombroski	1994–1995	2	2	0	0	100%
Darryl Suasua	1996–2002	23	22	1	0	95.65%
Jed Rowlands	2003–2007	15	15	0	0	100%
Dale Atkins	2008–2009	4	4	0	0	100%
Brian Evans	2009–2010, 2012–2014	20	18	2	0	90%
Grant Hansen	2011	3	0	2	1	0%
Greg Smith	2014–2015	0	0	0	0	0%
Glenn Moore	2015–2022	33	26	7	0	78.78%
Wayne Smith	2022–	3	3	0	0	100%

See also

• List of women's international rugby union test matches – the most complete listing of all women's international results since 1982.

Further reading

• Curtin, Jennifer (2016). "Before the 'Black Ferns': Tracing the Beginnings of Women's Rugby in New Zealand". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 33 (17): 2071–2085. doi:10.1080/09523367.2017.1329201. S2CID 148962837.

External links

• Official website